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Some of you may be aware that my current project du jour... the mental puzzle that occupies my down time ... is a full-on, musical theater version of ... a to-be-named zombie movie. You probably know what movie I'm talking about. It's sort of a romantic comedy, set in London, as the zombie apocalypse is happening. The heroes hole up in the local pub, to wait it out. Not all of them survive. Yes, THAT movie. You've got it.
Let's not name it here or in the comments, lest we attract unwanted attention.
Anyways, I got the idea to turn it into a musical theater comedy, about a month ago and have been working on it since then. I've got 14 songs outlined and planned for the play. I want them to pop up, as musical numbers do, during a balls-accurate staging of the rest of the movie. I want zombies! I want a speeding car chase! I want dance numbers!
I also want an eight week run of the show, to go up in September of next year and run through Halloween.
I have all manner of suprises in store. Song structure and placement. Lovingly accurate recreations of moments from the movie (walk-through of the newly zombified neighborhood? Check! Throwing Records at The Girl In The Garden? Check! The Doppelgang? Check!) Also, there's a raffle planned, audience participation, full frontal male nudity and orangutan impressions galore. All of this fueled by a deep appreciation for the film and my own ignorance of what I can or can not accomplish. (I begin every project with the assumption that everything is going to work out better than I intend it to. Luckily for me, I know a small army of talented people who make these things happen, well above my capacity to execute them.)
So, last night, and here's the reason I am posting about this, I took a BIG STEP forward towards doing the show. I found an online script for the film. I have been dreading transcribing that movie, not because it's a bad movie, but because that would take forever. Luckily for me, someone else already did that work. I copied the script to my own computer and began formatting it for my form, plugging in place-holders for the songs that I'm looking to add.
Add to that, I have a song-writer on retainer. And I have confirmed interest from three strong potential leads. As it turns out, the more that I get done, the closer I get to this happening and the more likely it becomes.
Here's the production schedule I've created for myself.
DECEMBER
Finish formatting the script.
Write Lyrics for the first four songs.
JANUARY
Write lyrics for four more songs.
Get four finished songs from the song-writer. (4 total)
Finish Props List.
Finish Sound Effects List.
FEBRUARY
Write lyrics for four more songs.
Get four more finished songs from the song-writer. (8 total.)
Tweak script / Finalize directorial decisions for staging.
MARCH
Write lyrics for two more songs.
Get four more finished songs from the song-writer. (12 total.)
APRIL
Get final two songs from song-writer. (14 total.)
Stage Reading w/ Feedback Session - mid April.
MAY
Press Releases Go Out.
Confirm with Music Director & Choreographer / Fight Choreographer.
Auditions in Late May. Cast Secured.
Rehearsal Schedule finished and set.
JUNE
Rehearsals begin in early June.
Costumes gathered.
Blood Effects Designed.
JULY
Rehearsals continue.
Minimal Scenary built.
AUGUST
Rehearsal continue, adding sound effects, props, blood effects, etc.
Reviewers scheduled, as available.
SEPTEMBER
Two weeks of tech rehearsals and final dress rehearsals.
Show run begins, mid-September at The Playground Theater. (Either as a 10pm show or a midnight show.)
OCTOBER
Show runs through October, marketing to Halloween crowds.
NOVEMBER
Show closes two weeks into November.
Have post show meetings to get notes from collaborators, prepping for 2010 remount (barring disaster).
Let's just see how closely I stick to that, eh?
If all goes to well, I'll have a fully staged, choreographed, musical theater version of a film that I love. And hopefully that YOU love too. And would want to come be a part of and/or see, in the month of September/ October.
(Don't worry, I've got a backup plan, in case I get a C&D letter from the movie studio. Change names, Change the title, Pull out sections of dialogue, Change the product sufficiently, so as to be different enough from the original, to skirt copy-write laws. Adding original musical numbers aids that process.)
Consider this your ten month call to come see this fantastic show.
Cheers,
Mr.B
9 comments:
C&D's are a great form of publicity. I would encourage you to pursue one.
I hope this happens. It's one of my favorite movies and I would love to see is as a musical.
I know a very talented female singer song-writer if you need someone to write an acoustic or piano number. She's incredibly funny too.
So, are they going to have English accents?
Cheers,
K
K,
Email me with contact information from the singer song-writer. I would love to hear her take on the love ballad. That's one of the key numbers for the show. So, I'm working on it early.
And yes to English Accents. Of course. We're going to hew as closely to the movie as the musical theater format will allow us to.
Additionally, I've been reading up on parody vs copywright laws today and I think we've got an extremely good case to make that we're a legal parody of the original source material. A.) We're altering significant portions of the script and B.) We're also adding large chunks of new material, which comment on the source material in an original way and C.) it would be VERY difficult for the studio to argue that our work had an impact on their revenue. Which pretty much puts us in the clear.
I might also have to press you into some graphic work for me, Mr. Bice. How would you feel about designing a show poster for a meager fee?
Cheers,
Mr.B
ok. I want IN on this noise, babe.
Well sure.
Which "J" is this? The link to your blogger profile doesn't work. Is this J.D.?
Cheers,
COB
It's Jady.
I am forwarding you my resume as we speak.
I am writing it on the back of a Denny's menu, but it should suffice.
Need a baritone background player? I'm in.
Short answer: Yes.
If you want to be involved in this project, you will be. There's lots for everyone to do. And I'll make it as easy as possible for people to be a part of this.
Something to think about: I already know that I must have a Zombie Chorus. They'll play everyone else in the show. The Doppelgang. The neighbors. The pyjama zombie. The zombie crowd at the Winchester (both inside and out). They'll also have three different numbers that I know of, as well as serve as our scene change artists. Also, they attack and eat a couple different characters. Lots to do there. I would consider it to be a great honor to be in the Zombie Chorus. And a much more likely goal than the central leads. So, keep that in mind.
I'm not saying NOT to go out for the leads. Nothing is cast yet. (Because there's nothing TO cast yet. It's a script in development, right now.) But know that interest in the Zombie Chorus is a shortcut to getting in this show. (And understudying a lead character.)
In any case, if that doesn't suit you, we'll find something for you to do. And if you want a lead, by all means, go out for it. Everyone has a shot at it. Nothing is pre-cast.
Thanks for the interest, guys. It's very encouraging, when there's otherwise, no feedback, but my own, to keep moving forward on it.
Cheers,
Mr.B
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